Crossovers That Shouldn't Be: Familiar Agito
by Jebe
Summary: An experiment involving replacing Saito with Agito Makashima.
1. Chapter 1

Crossovers that Shouldn't Be: Guyver/Familiar of Zero, Agito version

Disclaimer:

This fanfiction is written under the auspices of Fair Use of the likenesses of charaters, environments, and situations from the various Guyver and Familiar of Zero properties. This means that this work will avoid plagiarizing the existing properties, and thus things will deviate from canon.

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Agito found himself being pulled across space and time, a feeling that was far from alien but different in character then the occasional trip through hyperspace. The fact he appeared in a cloud of smoke was definitely off. It dissipated quickly revealing a large grassy field enclosed by stonework that while impressive for its size, was lacking in any apparent sense of purpose or flair beyond the use of colored roof tiles. Around him in a loose fashion were numerous children and a single balding adult who didn't give the sense of actually being in control. It all looked like some kind of magic school along the lines of that Harry Potter series from several decades backs. (1)

"Who..." He glanced down and noticed a girl that was probably eleven years old standing in front of him who was clearly working up her courage to address him. It really did not take much for him to place what the basic situation was even without the patronizing catcalls about her being a "Zero." Her posture and demeanor said plenty.

To be free of backbiting schoolgirls participating in backbiting schoolgirl politics.

"My name is Agito Makashima, I'm pleased to meet you." He said with practiced pleasantness. His instincts told him she was responsible, and when there was an option he just preferred to not be needlessly confrontational.

The catcalls increased as someone apparently started adding "common human" and "commoner" to the mix, which quickly caught on and had the predictable effect on their target. The fact this could even be used in such a manner reinforced the notion this was some kind of Harry Potter school, unless they were Zoanoids. In which case they were up for an unpleasant surprise if they pushed the issue.

"Do you always allow your charges to be publicly humiliated by simpletons?" I quickly address to the balding adult I can only presume is in charge, intentionally adding the slur. This had the combined effect of forcing the man out of his apathy and the crowd suddenly going silent.

"Who are you calling a simpleton, commoner?" Was the predictable response with the predictable follow up chatter, proving in the process that it wasn't a insult. It was simply an observation.

"I presume this is some kind of ceremony involving the summoning of creatures and that this reflects upon the summoner, yes?" He made sure to control his voice and keep it in a reasonable tone asking the question as if it was merely a matter of intellectual curiosity.

"Of course, this is the Holy Ritual of Summoning." The balding adult provided, effectively showing again whose side he was on... Naturally followed with attempts at dismissal from a crowd eager to tear down the one who had slighted them.

"Then I would suggest you teach your class a lesson in being intelligent enough to not presume things based on the barest of evidence in the manner of a simpleton, and have the dignity to not behave in such a manner towards their peers." The adult sputtered, and the catcalls died down expect those being launched anonymously from the crowd. They were now however directed at him.

The little girl who had basically gotten lost and drowned out in it all was currently looking rather confused. Given how openly the crowd had attacked her and how this kind of gauche back biting politics worked it was rather clear she didn't really have anybody that could rightly be called a friend and would stand up for her. So it was only natural that having someone stand up and unexpectedly turn the tables back on her tormentors would be a completely alien experience.

"Class is dismissed except for Louise Francoise de La Blanc de Valliere, and her familiar." The balding man declared, clearly less then appreciative of having responsibility for his students actions rightly put on his lap. In the process confirming my suspicions that if this place wasn't some kind of Harry Potter magic school it was trying its darnedest to look like one. While most of the students simply flew off a particularly well endowed redhead couldn't resist getting in a backhanded compliment. To be free of backbiting schoolgirls participating in backbiting schoolgirl politics.

"She only has as much power over you as you give her." Agito observed to the little girl as he observed her fists tighten in response and her entire posture go livid.

"If only..." She did not so much yell as scream before trailing off undoubtedly debating a zillion what-ifs. Undoubtedly revolving around the principle her tormentors attacked her based on their jibes of choice rather then their ability to successfully isolate and ridicule her.

"Anger is natural, but you shouldn't let it control you."

The teacher kept sputtering as he started a thought and changed his mind repeatedly. That was fine. "Is there anything else?"

Grateful for a clear opening the teacher responded with, 'Louise still needs to complete the "Servant's Contract."'

"I presume its purpose is some kind of brand?" Agito observed non-chalantly.

"It is a way to mark you as a familiar, and setup a magical contract." The balding man grateful for things to once more be on apparently favorable terms said almost happily.

"Is that all that remains?" Agito responded in kind like it was nothing.

"Indeed that is all that remains." Cue ball responded with a nod.

"In that case we're done here. I'm not interested. I will however look after the girl."

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Agito managed to rather quickly lift a lot of relevant information through the use of soft interrogation techniques. Simple inquiries revealed that yes the locals practised magic but they were powerless without a wand or similar tool granting them the ability to manipulate it. Encouraging her to vent about her perceived tormentors and a little strategic goading granted him some insight into what they were actually capable of, but only a rough picture as the nature of the technique inherently encouraged as emotional and thus hardly objective response. He did get the impression there was nothing here that was a serious threat to him, but then that had been the case until Guyot had demonstrated his ability to defy death the first time back home.

More importantly he got a sense of this world's dynamics even if it was currently as seen through the warped lens of a child. Basically Fuedalism was the law of the land with the status of nobility being backed by magic. A little egging on at the right times revealed this issue was a particular sore point for her as she was the youngest daughter of her family and thus subject to simply be used as political capital if she wasn't able to aid the family through use of magical power. Indeed it already sounded like she had been promised. It was a not entirely outlandish modification to such practices, given the dynamics involved. More importantly it was a potential source of leverage towards a young female who had the foolish notion she could control what the Advent themselves could not.

After his charge went to bed without any apparent comprehension of anything beyond enjoying a chance to vent had occured he openned up the window in the anteroom, and was immediately confronted by two moons. This was one of those rare times that he regretted the fact that using the Arizona Navigation Spheres to make a second Gigantes had come at the cost of losing almost all of the stored data. Without access to the Advent star charts or hyperspace navigation routes there was really not a easy way to figure out where this planet was relative to Earth. Assuming there hadn't been a dimensional shift on top of everything which could mean there wasn't a Earth, or even that this place was taking up its relative position. Either way it was clearly yet another Advent experiment that had been allowed to fallow, although whether it was simply the calm before the harvest or been truly abandoned was as always impossible to determine.

Perhaps it was time to do some footwork while his "Master" was oblivious to the world. Making sure to secure the door behind him, lest any Noble's brat decide to try something funny, he took to wandering the halls. While walking the walls might be more useful for reconaissance it wasn't time to encourage the starting of rumors about the "black demon" quite yet. He was once more struck by just how bizarre this place was.

If it was intended to be fortifiable there wasn't a single thing about the place that wasn't designed wrong. The wall , if you could even call it that, was in reality on partially as thick as it appeared turning as it did into a vault supported by stone arches. Further it was was dwarfed in both thickness and height by the excessively grandoise tall walkways. Then there was the one tower near the not even vaguely reinforced gate which was unique in only be connected to the rest of the facility through the wall.

Yet by the standards he was familiar with it wasn't exactly decorative stonework either. There was a significant lack of the reliefs and statues one would associate with such things. Nor could he say there was much in the way of true functional design involved. It was almost as if they could raise such a thing so casually as to not feel the need to give real purpose to what was normally such a large and complex endeavor.

He almost didn't notice the maid walking by, which would have been a major loss. Wise nobles had a right to fear their servants as they were the best of spies, due to being everywhere and largely being unnoticed. From what he'd seen these were not wise nobles, and thus it was simply a matter of encouraging the information to flow in the desired direction and not forcing things.

"Good evening, would you like some help with that?" Agito said indicating the rather large stack of linens the maid was carrying.

She, not unexpectedly, was startled when he spoke up. The linens were afterall blocking her view, and the hallways were basically abandoned at this hour. A quick and deft maneuver relieved her of the stack of linens before it had a chance to tumble to not entirely clean floor.

"Thank you." The yound woman said as she recovered herself.

"It's not a problem." Agito replied pleasantly.

The woman started again after they'd been walking for a moment. "Are you Madame Valliere's familiar?"

"Something like that. I take it they were talking about me?" He responded in a questioning joking way so as to encourage her to talk about what they had been saying without seeming at all confrontational or forceful in the process.

From there he was able to get a decent sense of what the school body's opinion of him was, and even get more intelligence on just what kind of a threat they represented. Of course, that involved structuring things as asking about his "Master" and how the other students compared to her in a confiding fashion that worked just fine. This left him with both much higher quality intelligence on just what these "mages" could actually do, and the geopolitics of the various bordering countries who apparently were currently enjoying a period of relative peace. Not to mention a potential avenue for more information later and even into the larger spy network the servant body represented as he had made sure to keep the conversation jovial and light while making a good impression.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.

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Perhaps the most interesting bit of information he managed to obtain this morning was that the Headmaster's Secretary was a noble that had apparently been striped of her status and was now a commoner, but at the same time freely able to practice magic. The fact the cueball fancied her despite likely being twice her age, and the Headmaster was a lech were useful in their own right but nowhere near as big. Very few were those who freely walked away from power, period. This woman however hadn't even been given the opportunity to walk away, she had been forced out. As a result he put good odds that she wanted back in to the circles of power, and it wouldn't surprise him at all if she was already talking steps in that direction.

Given what he heard he seriously doubted she didn't realize that being the Headmaster's secretary and tolerating his lecherous existence would do much for her in that direction. So it was to his complete and utter lack of surprise to hear that recently there had been thefts reported to be the work of a power magician. Although if it was her it tended to point to a rather short sighted individual along the same lines as her method of acquiring her current position if the rumors the staff was aware of were true. That or something utterly quirky and clever that she was going to steal or assemble that in a perfectly sane world would never work. Not that any world was ever perfectly sane.

Either way she was worth keeping an eye on if only to break up the large servings of backbiting schoolgirl politics that were liable to dominate his immediate future. If it wasn't for the fact that this place was a literal hub between the various important families of the various nations he would have seriously considered leaving already. Not that he particularly favored soft diplomacy with those who thought they had an entitlement to screw you over. Indeed he favored arranging things so they would deliver themselves to their own divine justice. (2) The locals might be willing to idly standby as their "students" developped and reinforced bad habits which would carry over to how they handled themselves later when in control of real power in difference to trouble with their progenitators, but he had no such scruples.

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Agito couldn't help but internally smirk, while keeping his outside features pleasant, when the girl immediately decided to begin trying to abused her newfound "power" almost as soon as she woke up. The maid from before had given him a good sense of what was and what was not expected from the "commoner" staff. Dressing little girls who were too lazy to dress themselves in the morning was not included. True a normal commoner would think twice before defying a noble, but they understood the principle that there were always bigger fish and that this could be utilized just fine. Something his discussion with the maid had also verified.

Not taking an aggressive posture as always encouraged further abuse asit encouraged the exploiter to find the true limits of their "power." The fact that such people didn't have actual power but instead operated at the sufference of those they exploited togive them a tantilizing taste of what they lacked, was as a rule lost on them. Afterall the failures of short sightedness, a general lack of vision, and understanding of the humanity of those around them were why they would even bother with such petty power grabs in the first place.

As a result he decided arguing the point was inferior to simply creating an object lesson that she had no intrinsic power over him. So he said "No" in a way that said more with tone then words in response to her attempt to order him to dress her and left.

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Louise stamped her foot impotently. She finally had a servant of her own, and it refused to obey her. This wasn't how it was supposed to work! The bedframe was unimpressed with her repeated strikes of frustration, but her leg didn't prove so imprevious to her expression of frustration. Clutching a now rather sore ankle Louise's mind searched for some means reasserting her control. Thinking to how her parents handled her, she immediately thought about witholding dinner and decided breakfast made an adequate approximation.

Having dressed herself thanks to a certain servant disapearing, she rushed out to deliver her judgment. Only there was a complete and utter lack of said servant. There was however an abundance of overdeveloped Zerbst.

"Why good morning, Louise. Where is your magnificent familiar?" With emphasis placed and tone used so as to make the statement mean the opposite of what the Zerbst had actually said, particularly as directed towards her.

Louise, who never quite figured out how to use proper female doublespeak, struggled to come up with an appropriate answer. The Zerbst however being uninterested in an answer so much as getting her daily round of shots in at the Valliere, simply continued on towards the breakfast hall leaving Louise to trail in her wake. Finally settling on a convenient excuse she declared, "He's off on an errand." Neither Kirche or Tabitha showed a sign they even heard her, and she fell behind.

"As I said, they only have as much power over you as you give them." A voice calmly observed from behind her.

Louise quickly whirled around to find her familiar calmly standing a few meters behind her. "If you won't obey your Master then you won't have any breakfast!" She managed in her best imitation of her parents ordering her to go without dinner for this minor offence or that.

He responded by clapping, clapping of all things, with a small smile. "A good performance, but you neglected three things."

"What do you mean I neglected three things?" She vented in his general direction.

"First, depriving a servant of their meal reduces their ability to do work. Second, you don't have the ability to deprive me of meals. And third..." Her familiar paused, and just when she thought he might not continue the bell signifying the doors would soon close rang.

She rushed in an undignified fashion knowing that she wasn't going to make it, but determined to at least try. She didn't even get to see the door close for her trouble. Just as she was debating trying to force one of the doors she didn't hear so much as feel her familiar calmly walk up behind her.

Whirling she declared. "This is all your fault!"

A thin smile was his immediate response. "While we can argue about your attempts to shift blame for your own actions and choices, there are more pressing issues. As today is a self study period I have decided to make arrangements." He lifted up a pack from which she could almost make out the smell of freshly baked cookberry pie.

She really didn't like the way this situation had been turned completely backwards from the way it was supposed to go.

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While they had apparently raised this facility by some sort of magical means that didn't mean they'd bypassed the need for a local rock quarry. Hence it had simply been an issue of finding the appropriate direction and a means to quickly travel the distance, in the form of a pair of horses. Naturally the girl imperiously insisted she could ride a horse and proceeded to have problems leading to her having to accept his offer to ride behind him. This served to delay things, although not as long as it could have as it involved a rather short trip to return the extra horse to the stable.

A further delay arose when it turned out that there no blocks of rejected stone lying around. That either implied that it had been long enough for the locals to haul away all the potentially usable stone blocks for their own projects, or there was something to this earth magic allowing the extraction of materials issue. The solution was no so much difficult as involving a hand it was simply better not to play at this point. It then occured to him that if these people didn't leave rejected blocks and were not currently using this quarry there really wasn't much reason to not just use the exposed rock faces themselves. And so pulling out the piece of charcoal he had obtained for the purpose he quickly drew a large black spot on the smooth hewn rock face.

"Now." Agito declared as he walked his "Master" back to a relatively safe distance. "If you would be so kind as to fire a spell at the black spot we can begin."

"What kind of spell?" She asked in an unsure fashion.

"What you intend to cast isn't particularly important. It simply needs to be something you can cast a lot of, and will travel downrange before exploding." He'd heard enough accounts from both the student body and the staff to determine that explosions were the end result of all of this girl's spells. The fact none of them seemed to wrap their heads around the concept such an ability could be potentially useful instead of just deriding the girl was utterly typical.

The first spell hit high and to the right, corresponding with flick from the upper right the girl had used. It had a noticeable, if not awe inspiring by his unreasonable standards, effect on the rock. "Do you need to be moving your wand when you release a spell?" He calmly asked.

Louise stopped and thought about that for a moment, before showing with her body language more then her voice that no she didn't need to and felt embarrassed about the point.

"As long as you make the effort to learn from you mistakes do not concern yourself so much with the fact you make mistakes." Agito consoled in response. "In this case try giving yourself a second to confirm you are sighted on target before you release it."

This time she got in the circle, while it wasn't a perfect bullseye by any means it was never the less very good start. Give her some more practice to refine what she was doing and she'd be a magic sharpshooter in no time. He took a moment to examine the miss more closely as Louise continued to practice. There were no scorch marks indicative of combustible products, but there was smoke. How very odd.

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1) He's summoned from 2032 for the purposes of this fic, and has been living as a virtual hermit for some time. For our purposes the current duels outcome is not destruction of either party, but does lead to a serious and lasting schism between their two factions. None of which is really relevant here as more then simple bookkeeping issues.

2) "And I leave you the monster you always were."

Author's Notes:

My personal take on Agito's "ambition" is along the lines of a dog chasing a car. He expresses a desire for such in confidence to Shizu, but it was in the sense he sees it as a means to the ends of curing the evil of Society, particularly apathetic/selfish behavior. Something not exactly uncommon to be expressed in confidence with no intention of action followthrough. It should be noted he's never actually done anything to pursue this. Indeed his Army will at best survive long enough for him to defeat Chronos, and is utterly unsuited to any other purpose. Not to mention the issue that afterwards he will finally be truly alone.

Hence I seriously see him going hermit when it's all said and done.


	2. Chapter 2

Crossovers that Shouldn't Be: Guyver/Familiar of Zero, Agito version Chapter 2

Disclaimer:

This fanfiction is written under the auspices of Fair Use of the likenesses of characters, environments, and situations from the various Guyver and Familiar of Zero properties. This means that this work will avoid plagiarizing the existing properties, and thus things will deviate from canon.

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In the early day of Zeus Thunderbolts when they were working with little more then scavenged military equipment, Agito had personally overseen the training of various members although he was smart enough to leave the actual training to those best qualified to do so. Learning how to properly use and operate their weapons and the tactics that would allow them to effectively take out anything short of an armored hyperzoanoid always had a confidence booster effect on the men. Louise was about as far removed from them as possible, but the enjoyment of blowing targets up seemed to be universal.

It was good to see her gaining self confidence and a little discipline in the process, but he was still leery of what he was potentially unleashing. The girl was simply not mature enough to not worry about her misusing that power. Not that she was even vaguely alone in having that issue... Arguably the worst offender along those lines was actually a Noble named Guiche de Gramont, although his issues were more depraved then wrathful. He was the local playboy, who had a habit of dating more then one girl at once according to the staff. Normally that'd only be his and his girlfriends problem, but these were young Nobles and the boy was nothing more then the third son of a General of the puppet state the school was located in. That created serious potential for much larger problems, and that was something he could not allow.

This left the question of when to deal with him. If he acted directly he'd need to be able to leave Louise unmonitored, which meant she needed to be responsible enough to be left unmonitored. Something she was far from by his standards. She'd shown her true colors when she thought she could manhandled him as a servant. As they say the true measure of person can be seen in how they treat their inferiors, not their equals or superiors.

And Louise's true measure was spoiled rotten from being the youngest child of parents who apparently were uninterested in properly developing discipline. That would increasingly become an issue as she moved from being dead last to potentially having a leg up on her classmates. The potential correspondent shift in her perception of her classmates from superiors to inferiors was a source of potential future problems. Particularly the more they were accommodating in the encouraged and shaped the girl's behavior as it developed, which was not outside the realm of possibility. While none of that was liable to occur overnight its development needed to be controlled if a positive outcome was to be the result.

Sadly for Guiche de Gramont, he didn't need to act directly.

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Louise found her familiar to be oddly quiet since their outing to the quarry, when he was even around. It was like he was content to just observe. She had quickly realized that this was not someone she could treat as a servant. He was normally pleasant, but that was backed with steel, and a amazing ability to turn situations around on her.(1)

"What is this?" Guiche's voice didn't so much yell as screech, like a girl.

Her familiar caught Guiche's upraised hand before it had a chance to strike its intended target. "Your father should have told you, you shouldn't kill a messenger that delivers bad news. You kill them when you want to make a statement to their masters. So what statement are you trying to make?" He said in a pleasant voice like he was discussing the merits of various varieties of tea.

Guiche looked at him dumbly, his mouth moving but not making any coherent noises in the process. The servant took the opportunity to disappear, with little more then a nod in her familiar's direction. Eventually a coherent thought seemed to make its way into Guiche's head.

"How dare you touch me, a Noble." He declared putting on his full airs. "I challenge you to a duel." He added after taking a dramatic pose he utterly failed to pull off.

After a pause her familiar simply said. "As you wish." Almost as soon as the words left his mouth Guiche's head was slammed into the stone wall of the corridor with a sickening thump, where her familiar pinned him against the wall twisting an arm in a way that left the boy crying in pain. "What would you like on your tombstone?"

"Stop it! What are you doing to him?" She demanded as soon as her mind registered the rapid brutal actions.

"He asked for a duel and specified no conditions. This is simply the natural consequence." He declared before unceremoniously releasing Guiche, who immediately collapsed. "We can try this again in the large courtyard within the next hour. I suggest you have a set of acceptable conditions then."

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"Old Osmond! Old Osmond!" Osmond looked up from his examination of Miss Longueville's beautiful posterior in annoyance as some fool beat on his door. Couldn't they see he had went to all the trouble to procure himself a lovely secretary? Couldn't they understand that he might actually want to appreciate said lovely secretary? And couldn't they respect their elders enough, not emphasize the fact he was old?

"Miss Longueville, could you get that?" He asked cheerfully, enjoying the view as she walked up to the door, revealing that bald guy whose name could never seem to remember long enough to complete the paperwork to have him removed for interrupting him. Last time he'd accidentally fired his favorite janitor Coldbert. Now who was supposed to take care of the magical observation devices he'd had strategically placed throughout the school?

Whatever his name was stopped to catch his breath for a moment. "What was your name, again?"

"Colbert."

"Could you spell that?" Osmond quickly wrote it down as the bewildered belligerent babbled out the key to finally being rid of him.

"Now what did you want me for?" Not that he really cared. Ooh, polka dots.

"Osmond, Guiche has challenged Louise's familiar to a duel." Now if only he could figure out a way to get her to let him do more. Wait the way Culbert had said that almost sounded as if he was imply Guiche was in trouble.

"Are you implying a mere commoner is such a threat to the third son of General Gramont of Tristain? Has the gift of magic somehow left him that he should need our help?" It was patently absurd.

"But according to my research the only know human summons were those of the Founder." Soon-to-be-fired persisted.

"And you also said they had runes and special powers you still have no evidence of this man possessing." Shooing the man out of the office he looked to find his note missing. He was sure he had written one this time, now where had it gotten to.

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It was an unsteady Guiche that did not so much walk as meander onto the field in an aimless, and almost directionless fashion. By now the entire student body had heard one rendition or another of what had occurred. Where normally there would an expectation of a Noble putting a commoner in their rightful place, their was now more of an expectation that Guiche was about to die. Yet to express such would be a concession of a Noble's superiority over what was still to all appearances a commoner.

To even imply that a fight between a Noble that could still use magic and an unarmed commoner was unfair in the commoner's favor was unthinkable, although everyone was thinking it. It was integral to their fundamental right and privilege to be Nobles that they were superior. And yet at the unsteady Guiche stood facing the calm and composed commoner familiar not a single observer didn't have the sense that this time the scales were loaded to their disadvantage.

"If you do not wish to die for the sake of harming a courtier, I suggest you give yourself the option to yield." The commoner said as if making an observation about the weather.

Guiche started to arrogantly declare he did not need the option to yield, and then thought better of it. "That is acceptable." He declared in an attempt to keep his airs about him, which utterly fell flat, even to him.

The commoner made a point to pull his hands out of his pockets, and said. "This should be enough. Let's see what you've got."

Guiche's response was to wave him rose wand causing petals to fall off and upon touching the ground transmutate into feminine golems a head shorter then he was. The first was dispatched when the commoner simply sidestepped its blow and broke its arm off with a brutal maneuver before slamming it into the face of the golem it had been attached to. The rest were destroyed piecemeal in a series of actions that served to make them look utterly clumsy. Before that quite managed to sink in the commoner was standing before Guiche delivering a vicious right hook that left him staggered. The follow up high kick sent him into unconsciousness.

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As far as Agito was concerned it was mission accomplished. The boys father had responded as he expected to the small mountain of evidence anonymously sent to him regarding his son's activities. The result, Guiche de Gramont was getting his allowance slashed, fell within acceptable parameters as it would deny him the funds to continue his activities. He'd been able to peruse the relevant portion of its contents when he had defended the courtier. That Guiche de Gramont had flown off the handle had been anticipated, and the outcome had been shaped to serve his purposes on multiple levels.

The intelligence he had been able to gather and interpret proved to be solid enough. At the boy's current level of proficiency he was able to create a number of golems that were solid enough as a terror weapon. He'd had to use more leverage then he would with a human, but the strength fell well short of what their apparent construction. Hence the use of normal humans as soldiers, as with appropriate weapons and training they could go through such things easily enough.

The boy did not however represent the upper limit of what could be expected from local mages, although he was hardly below average. While he had chosen to make a spectacle out of things this time, the reality was he had taken advantage of the minor boosts the Bio-Booster Armor provided in passive form to insure he didn't get bogged down and thus it was a massacre instead of a fight. (2) Against more skilled opponents there was no guarantee he would be allowed such extravagances.

Obtaining appropriate local weaponry was a priority if he did want to have his hand forced in response to the potential threat of Nobles deciding they wished to _correct_ what they saw as an error in the results. With Guiche de Gramont clearly morally in the wrong and the Valliere family effectively backing him up, whether it wanted to or not, such actions could not be officially taken. That did not mean they wouldn't occur. Particularly as he had just quite clearly demonstrated to the plebeians that they could overthrow their masters, and to the masters that they could be overthrown. Not that now was the time to be starting a revolution.

This nation, if it was entirely appropriate to call it that, was created from pieces of territory conceded with the intent of creating a kind of diplomatic neutral ground. Hence the magical academy, and a supreme and utter lack of a credible military. As a result there was a serious potential threat from the nation of Albion, provided its rebels won, using Tristain for a beachhead for carving out a portion of the continent. Or at least at the level the staff were knowledgeable about such things, and chose to discuss them.

There was a good chance that there was more to the situation. What stood out the most was the simple logistical problem of launching an assault from a floating island and having to establish a beachhead when so far there wasn't any indicating of a strong means of transporting and supplying such an effort. That in turn would make the initial assault difficult due to need to assemble sufficient mass quickly to breakthrough any kind of serious counterattack, and make supplying a force in the field a serious issue the further inland they went. And there was always the political issue of Albion nobility being effectively held hostage here at the academy.

That however presumed, as he was used to, that they were rational and had the means to counter such offensives, and that this magical world didn't have logistical tricks hiding up its sleeves. He wasn't about to count on either being true under the circumstances. Not that he was about to count on it being true either. His sources were not military analysts, and they didn't seem to know of anyone actually engaging in wargames instead of routine skirmishes between the various countries here and there. The scale the staff indicated those operated in might be sufficient for a young general to be to demonstrate whether they had some skill, but not to really prepare and develop the skills for a full fledged invasion. As a result there was a good chance if things went that way of things devolving into chaos as what were ultimately overly optimistic plans bogged down and failed to bear fruit as per World War 1.

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The local town held a few stores which sold what were, by the standards of this world, conventional weapons. So far all of those were boutiques aimed at giving young nobles something decorative to wear on their hip, with potentially phallic implications. As a result even he, who had little interest in the subject was able to easily see that they were not practical as actual weapons.

So it was that he was now standing in what was reputed to be the cheapest weapon shop in town, whose owner seemed to be both slimy and more then a little desperate. His inventory however included weapons that were clearly not designed as wall hangers or accessories. For better or worse those weapons showed a clear trend towards having prior owners. Given what he'd found out about this world so far, that would almost assuredly mean that they had been collected off the dead from the routine small campaigns they engaged in against each other, which explained the low prices and less reputable nature of the institution.

To someone with the blood of more people on their hands then lived in this city however the taboo of using a dead man's weapon didn't hold much weight. What he wanted was what passed for combat grade arms in this place, and despite the nature of the source this place had them in spades. Picking up a rather odd model with a hinged metal bracket at the base of the blade that served no purpose he could divine, he partially drew the sword inspecting it to find nothing that stood out.

"What is this for?" He asked the shopkeeper actuating the weird bracket for emphasis.

The bracket slipped out from under his fingers as if moving of its own volition. "Stop that!" Declared a voice quite a bit different from the shopkeeper's.

Agito reassessed the piece of steel, before actuating the bracket again. "I said stop that!" Declared a voice now rather clearly emitting itself from the sword in time with the flaps of the bracket.

"How very interesting. You seem to have seen a lot of action for something someone made to entertain at court." Agito intentionally said the last in a way he knew would rile it up if that wasn't the case. He wasn't disappointed.

"Entertain at court! Entertain at court! I am Derflinger, not a rich man's trinket." It responded in a thoroughly disgruntled fashion. Excellent.

" I'll take this one." He declared placing what yesterday had been an excessively large lump of coal on the counter, but was now something a good deal more valuable. The merchant's reaction was priceless.

[/\]

"Very clever, Partner." Derflinger declared from his waist.

"I'm glad you appreciate I cannot simply take a talking blade at its word." Agito responded in his usual pleasant fashion. The blade was clearly at the very least serviceable and had seen quite a bit of action, and as a consequence it was a potential source of **real** solid intelligence regarding how the locals waged war. That made the fact it could function as a blade secondary in terms of its real value. Not that it was good to let it know that.

Personally he doubted a blade that could last as long and see as much use as was immediately apparent from the state of this sword was something to be taken lightly. That was something her could let the blade know he valued, as it wouldn't compromise its value in the process.

[/\]

She'd been known by many names, although none of them had been her proper name in years. Stripped of her title and her rank she had been forced to make ends meet by whatever means she could manage. The old man had bragged about a "Staff of Destruction" which had the power to slay dragons in a single shot, and putting up with the balding Colbert over a meal had been all it had taken to learn about the weakness in the tower's defenses to physical attacks. And yet as she used her magic to adhere to the stone face she found even exploiting the weakness her magic was inadequate.

"It appears things are not going as you planned." The voice was unnatural in a way she could not adequately describe.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, albeit too late to do much that was actually useful. She turned around slowly and was dumbstruck by the figure she half saw in the dim starlight. Faintly glowing slits that appeared to be eyes regarded her in an unreadable fashion from a massive dark and inhuman body covered in spikes. (3) It was the very image of a demon only lacking a aura of flame and a constant accompaniment of the cries of the damned to be the epitome of the image of what a demon should be. She personally would rather been faced with that instead of the creepy skin this thing had which never seemed to stop moving or twisting in a disturbing fashion.

So it was perfectly understandable that when, suddenly and completely unexpectedly, confronted with a demon she momentarily lost the concentration necessary to maintain the spell keeping her adhered to the stone exterior of the central spire. Gravity was not forgiving of her momentary error and as she began to fall away she realized she wouldn't get a second chance. She who had once been Matilda the Noble was going to finally meet her end in a pointless manner that seemed oddly appropriate given how her life had proceeded up till now.

It occurred to her, as she continued her reminiscing, that she should have already have hit the ground. Actually looking around she found that she was somehow being held in midair at most 5 meters from where she'd fallen. The demon was still there regarding her as if to ask whether she thought its time so cheap as to waste on someone it'd let die.

[/\]

1) This is more a statement on Louise's lack of skill at maneuver then Agito's skill actually.

2) While it's never outright stated it effectively exists in the form of significant increases in coordination, situational awareness, and some extra sensory perception capabilities in addition to tending to have better conditioning then they would otherwise. While none of it is overtly superhuman, the net effect is in many respects.

3) Agito is Gigantic Dark in this particular instance, if there was an ambiguity.

Author's Notes:

The classic rule is that you cut these things clean after the initial snippet shows it is viable. I'm breaking this rule, although I don't get the impression people will complain too much about that.


	3. Chapter 3

Crossovers that Shouldn't Be: Familiar Agito, Chapter 3

Disclaimer:

This is written under the principle of fair use, and measures have been taken to avoid plagiarizing of Intellectual Properties. Series referenced include Guyver and Familiar of Zero. Any resemblance to real people is entirely coincidental. Views expressed by characters are written to be consistent with the nature and characterization of those characters and should not be construed to represent the views of the author.

[/\]

"What is it you seek, Lady Longueville?" The dark creature asked resplendent in its spines and reminding her of nothing so much as as a large spider despite its vaguely humanoid form. Its voice was still completely and utterly unnatural in ways she couldn't properly describe.

"The... staff of destruction." She stuttered out. A small more rational part of her was her that was normally dominant was screaming this was a bad idea. The normally controlled part of her mind however was screaming and running around like a wild woman at the fact she continued to survive at this things sufferance, particularly given she was hanging in mid-air and just a cancellation of the power tht currently supported her away from plummeting to her death.

Fouquet, as she had been dubbed in her thieving career, felt her stomach drop out from under her, and was blinded by an unnatural light that forced her to blink. The first thing she felt was cold hard stone under her. She blinked her eyes a few times until they finally cleared and found herself looking at a city sprawled out before her. And not just any city, for as she began to take in the landmarks she found in intimately familiar. It was the capital of Albion.

"Do you truly just wish for the staff or is this what you truly desire, mortal?" The cautious part of her mind recognized that no one simply gave you power, and that she was no longer on a hair trigger from death. Or at least not in a way she had to acknowledge.

"And what price would you demand for it, demon?" She shot back. She could swear the thing smiled, although it had neither lips or mouth with which to do so.

"You will do." There was another blinding flash of unnatural light and a feeling of her everything dropping out from under her. Her stomach decided it had enough, and left her retching until it was completely and utterly sure it had purged any remaining hint of anything that may have been in her system.

"Miss Longueville." A voice said while someone started rubbing her back. It felt nice, and helped with making the world stop spinning. It was particularly nice they were thoughtful enough to physically support her. She allowed herself to relax.

[/\]

Longueville, as she was known in her current position, woke up in her room. What a weird dream that had been. What was going on with her life that her subconsciousness would conjure up such a thing. A demonic humanoid spider able to casually travel great distances in an instant was the height of absurdity.

She noted a neatly folded note on her nightstand.

Dear Miss Longueville,

It appears you had a little too much to drink last night. I took the liberty to return you to your room so you could rest, and have the mess discretely cleaned up after you passed out.

I also want to let you know that if there is anything you'd like to talk about, I am there for you.

Cordially,

Agito Makashima

That must have been it. Eliminate the impossible and whatever remains however improbably must be the truth. Something must have happened she succeeded in suppressing and forgetting about with the alcohol, which meant she shouldn't dwell on it. Still she twirled the note thoughtfully. Louise Francoise de Valliere's Familiar was actually a very interesting person. According to the rumors he had implied there was a lot more to him then was immediately obvious when he had been summoned. After his defeat of Guiche de Gramont many had taken that to mean he was some kind of trained fighter, but still just a common human underneath it all.

[/\]

"Good morning." Agito looked up to see Longueville walking up to the staff table he normally ate at. She seemed, happy? He had seen a look like that look a few times before when he'd been student president. Why Longueville would be wearing it, apparently towards him, he was at something of a loss to explain. His plans had not accounted for this, at all.

"Good morning, you're looking cheerful this morning." He responded.

"I am." She said sitting down with no indication she was about to provide details, her body language was such if she animal she'd be wagging her tail. So that was how she was going to play this. She was interested, but she wanted to hold all the cards. Always with the little games, although he had to admit she was very attractive while not being a self important airhead. That counted for a lot.

Still the simple reality was he had never actually pursued a woman, or a serious relationship. The relationship between him and Shizu had been different from that and the War had always taken precedence until Abaddon had insured there was nothing to fight over. Since then things just hadn't hooked up that way.

He mentally drummed his fingers for several minutes. On one hand she was a very attractive young woman. On the other to him this was a queen others saw merely as a pawn. Someone who could easily transition between the commoner and noble realms, and while gaining her trust as himself might help with that, that required things to go perfectly. It could just as easily backfire for some nonsensical reason, and then he'd wish he was back at square one. Along the same lines there was a reason there was a well known line about scorned women, given she clearly was interested to some degree already... He had been outmaneuvered by someone who didn't even know what the game was.

Longueville's eyes seemed to be laughing merrily at him. She held all the cards in her much smaller game, and was enjoying seeing him off balance in response to her. Agito mentally sighed. The nature of his upbringing tended to make him view powerplay through a jaded light that in this case was excess and not really appropriate.

[/\]

Kirche drummed her fingers on the desk within her quarters. She had slept with just about every boy in the school. It was a means by which she could get back at her parents and the political arranged marriage they delivered her into. She'd flirted with the boys before and caused trouble, with her various games, but the scheduling multiple boyfriends thing had started when her parents had decided they were going to try to reign her in. She wasn't about to have any of that, and so went even further to rub their noses in it.

Louise's familiar had represented both a new potential conquest to rub her parents face in it and something she could rub in the nose of the hated de La Valliere. It was like killing two birds with one stone. It didn't hurt he was actually a legitimate catch worth pursuing. He however had successfully evaded all of her attempts to capture or corner him so far. The only consolation prize to which was that he seemed to disapear on Louise as well. It however wasn't much of a consolation prize as he was there when it mattered, and apparently had been tutoring Louise in how to use his magic despite having none of his own. Or maybe he did, and he simply didn't make a point of flaunting them. His little speach when he had first been summoned implied as much.

Agito Makashima was a walking enigma. There was clearly more to him then all of them had first presumed. The way he'd just manhandled Guiche's Valkyries was evidence enough of that. Through her various active boyfriends she also knew that there had been attempts to put Agito in his place following that involving discrete use of levitation spells. That never seemed to work out quite right and had apparently stopped almost as quickly as it had began. Filtering the particulars from their boasts and otherwise was beyond her capabilities.

[/\]

Agito looked at the women who had fallen asleep against him. Exactly how this happened continued to vex him. Yes, he'd put a positive spin on helping her with her unexpected issues with Hyperspace travel. Yes, they'd had a pleasant conversation about a wide variety of topics over the course of the day as they had met off and on between duties. Yes, he had invited her along for a stroll through the nearby forest to a nice scenic little pond that was amazingly devoid of biting insects. Yes, she had sat close to him while the sun had set in a rather impressive demonstration of colors. That did not however explain why she had felt comfortable enough to simply lay her head on his shoulder and fall asleep.

He was Zeus, Scourge of Chronos and commander of an army that had, had to sacrifice everything and dramatically reduce their lifespans in a desperate attempt to usurp the callous overlords that had overthrown the rightful governments of Earth. He was the one who had brought victory at the cost of everything he held dear only to be reviled for making the hard choices that had been necessary. He was the one who had bet everything on a dream only to have it smashed in front of his face. And watched a man who had sat on the sidelines and paid nothing except for the loss of a father that he had allowed to be captured despite Agito's best efforts to prevent and remedy the situation. A favor for which he had never been repaid and had almost ruined everything.

And this woman just treated him like he was a big teddy bear or something. Him, the man who had arranged for his adoptive father to be executed and then stood by while said adoptive father and what was potentially his biggest pawn had fought it out with both apparently perishing. He who had allowed the last vestige of his former life to sacrifice herself for his sake. Shizu... It was strange the way you never really appreciated things until they were gone.

She'd been a much more plain girl then the woman now resting against him, and utterly loyal. He never had really understood why she felt a sense of obligation towards him. He had been glad she and her father had stayed with him after his parents had commited suicide. It had kept him from falling apart after that and his subsequent adoption by a ruthless madman who had himself ended up being a mere pawn in a mech larger game, and the recognition that society simply didn't care. As long as it wasn't in their little circle or shoved in their face the world could burn and be filled with injustice for all they cared. Stability and petty interests were valued above the bigger picture, and Chronos was able to become what it did thanks to that. And then there was Shizu who had sacrificed everything even though he would have never asked her to, for some reason he had never truly understood.

And now like Napoleon he had a second chance to change the world for better or worse.

[/\]

Agito couldn't deny it was a pleasant sensation to carry the dosing Miss Longueville although he didn't particularly fancy this becoming a routine occurrence. He clearly wasn't thinking straight on this issue. He could have gently woke her up and walked her back, but there had been something about it all that had made him decide to gently pick her up and carry her instead.

As he approached the school he noticed a child standing there. While silhouetted against the lights of the academy the darkness still rendered it impossible to make out enough details to make a guess as to who it was or even what their gender might potentially be. Then his eyes picked out the silhouette of a well endowed woman who seemed to be talking to her. That led him to guess Tabitha and Kirche, although why they would be outside the gates at this hour was a mystery to him.

"Why can't I go to school too?" That was definitely not Kirche and didn't make sense to be spoken by Tabitha.

Agito moved yet closer and beheld a well endowed, naked, blue haired woman talking to Tabitha. Who sounded like a rather young child...

[/\]

Author's Notes:

Well still no real new Louise interaction or general light interactions in this chapter. There's just not much worth really worthy of creating a scene for going on in that area during this time period, although there will be more soon. For the past two chapters most of the work has simply been developing who this man called Agito Makashima, and there isn't really that much going on in the background at the moment. That however is very much subject to change.


End file.
